Born Again
by S. R. Singh
Summary: The Skeleton Detective and his partner Valkyrie Cain return to Ireland after their last case resulted in him regaining a flesh and blood body. As always, the duo will face hilarity and calamity as they and the criminals they hunt become accustomed to a living, breathing Skulduggery Pleasant. Valduggery.


**AN: Hello again. It has been quite some time since I've posted anything on FanFiction, but thanks to a few awesome reviews from a few awesome people, I read some of my old writing and was given some inspiration to continue my line of work from** _'Of Memories and Memorial' _**and** _'The Medallion'_.

**My line of Skulduggery fanfiction follows from when I had read the first five books of the series. Some facts of canon have been altered such as the resurrection of Mr Bliss and the survival of Kenspeckle Grouse and a secret relationship between Gordon Edgely and China Sorrows.**

**AN 28th Dec '13: To answer some questions I have received, I must reiterate that I have only read up to **_Mortal Coil_** and I refuse to Google what has happened as I greatly enjoy reading the works of Derek Landy. I appreciate that I am further behind than most readers of SP on here and so to compensate for my ignorance, I have edited the portion where Skulduggery changes his name. **

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A gleaming black beauty roared down the almost empty motorway with its unique headlights flooding the road ahead. The car was a 1954 Bentley R-Type Continental and it was the beloved machine of a man known as the Skeleton Detective.

Within the Bentley was a slightly awkward silence between a finely dressed man who looked a few years shy of 30 and a young woman who had recently turned 21. Despite what felt like a tense silence, their fingers were intertwined tightly as they drove.

Skulduggery Pleasant had been born a man to a powerful family of mages, he had exceeded in Elemental magic and when the war broke out between Mevolent's forces and those allied with the Sanctuary, he suffered a fate worse than death. His wife and child were killed and he was tortured until all that was left of him was a sack of bones that was thrown into a river. He was born again as a skeleton when all hope was lost for the allies. His return heralded victory after that was achieved he spent the last few hundred years developing a reputation as the greatest Detective in the world.

Nearly a decade ago, one of his great friends, Gordon Edgely, was murdered and it propelled Gordon's niece to join Skulduggery in his exploits within the hidden magical world. That niece was once and is still sometimes, Stephanie Edgely. However she took the name Valkryie Cain. And Valkyrie Cain was the gorgeous dark-haired, dark eyed young woman who was seated in the passenger seat holding on tightly to the hand of the man who had a goatee, pools of dark blue for eyes and short hair with a fringe that stuck up on its accord and leaned slightly to the left.

A mere week ago this man who appeared to be in the prime of health had no flesh or blood, he had no muscle or soft tissue, he had no eyes or lips. He had been a skeleton until his latest case had caused him to touch one of the most mythical artifacts of the Magical Word; The Medallion of Merlin.

Skulduggery's fingers had wrapped around the Medallion and he had disappeared for two days, thought dead by those closest to him. Until Valkyrie's admission of love returned the great Detective to the land of the living with the body he once had.

He had been born for the third time and he sincerely hoped it would be the last.

The silence had begun in a pizza place somewhere in London, Valkyrie had yet to say a word to Skulduggery's request-

"What?" finally came a croak as she turned to look at him. Skulduggery turned to her, his head tilted slightly. It was taking him some time to get used to having facial features. But Valkyrie now had a new way to tell what he was thinking rather than observing the way he tilted his head. Those blue eyes of his seemed to be an open book to her and only her. And now she read some slight amusement coupled with curiosity.

Skulduggery contemplated for a moment on whether to play ignorant or to answer her question. He glanced at the partner who had taught him to let go of the hate that once fuelled his bones, the partner that taught him to love again after hundreds of years of forgetting what love was.

But before he could answer her, she carried on.

"_Why_ would you want to meet _my parents_?" she asked, her voice stronger now as well as the disbelief in her voice.

"Because there isn't one person I once trusted to adequately explain to Desmond and Melissa just how much her daughter has helped this world. Not Ghastly or Kenspeckle, not China and not even Tanith. I've seen you develop into a true warrior. Your parents deserve to know that they have a hero for a daughter and now I have a face that won't cause them to faint."

"I dunno, it made me go a bit weak at the knees." She said quietly as she gave his warm hand a squeeze. He chuckled, releasing her hand to shift gears as they approached the exit for Dublin before he took it again.

"Valkyrie, I have always felt guilty for keeping you and your activities from your parents. And now…when I believe we are about to embark on a partnership more serious than the-."

"You're so romantic." She muttered, releasing his hand. He instantly pulled the car over to the side before he took her hand again.

"I haven't been in the dating game for a _long_ time. Forgive me. I still have hesitation in leading you any more astray than I already have. I assume from our multiple smashing together of lips that we both want to be together." He said, rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. She was silent for a moment before she gave a snort.

"Multiple smashing together of lips. God, you're just…" she didn't even finish before she leaned forward to smash her lips against his.

"I don't know why they call you the Greatest Detective. You're really thick sometimes." She teased as they turned back onto the road.

"And yet you learned everything you know from me. What does that say about you, I wonder?"

"I also learned from Tanith…and Gordon."

"Tanith can ride a bike and work a sword better than most Samurai and Gordon could find facts and figures like no one else but neither, dear Valkyrie, taught you those skills of detection that made the Americans offer you a job." He said matter-of-factly as they drove to her apartment near Skulduggery's house. She gave another snort, this time of derision as she reached down to her bag to search for her keys.

"After Davina Marr, The Archer and New York's attempts to overthrow our Sanctuary, I still can't believe they think I'd ever leave Ireland for _them_."

"They had a great dental plan though." Valkyrie gave him the look she always gave when he said something like that. A look crossed between weary amusement, slight disbelief and a hint of irritation.

"So will you be changing your name?" she asked, causing him to look at her in surprise.

"What do yo-?" he began before she gave him that look she always gave him when she knew something he hadn't told her. A look of smug superiority mixed with something that pretty much said 'Come on'.

"Well, I assumed that after Serpine...you took the name Skulduggery to match the man that you were. The skeleton." He was silent for a few moments as the streetlights flashed across him.

"I can see how you'd think that. But the truth is I took the name Skulduggery before all that. When I came back as the skeleton, no one believed it. I wasn't trusted. I somehow foresee that happening again. No one will believe the Skulduggery Pleasant is alive again. It's going to be a damn shame when criminals don't recognize the Skeleton Detective anymore." He said as they pulled to a stop outside a new looking apartment building. They leaned forward once more to tenderly kiss. When they pulled apart, she was caressing his cheek.

"You're always going to be the Skeleton Detective. Flesh and blood or not." She said before giving him a final peck on the lips and bounding out of the car.

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**Please do review! Hope you've enjoyed it so far. **


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